Texas Roadhouse Started in Southern Indiana, Not Texas
There are very few places that get your meal exactly right every single time you go, and where it’s hard to find anything bad on the menu. For me, and I think a lot of folks across the country would agree, that place is Texas Roadhouse.
I mean, hearty slabs of smoky ribs, steaks cooked to perfection, chicken that’ll make you slap your mama, even the chili and sides are amazing. But can we just take a moment for the ranch dressing and those fresh-baked rolls? Truly, there’s nothing better. I’ll fight anyone who says otherwise.
The First Texas Roadhouse Wasn’t in Texas
You’d think a place called Texas Roadhouse would have been founded in the great state of Texas by a real-life Texan, right? Nope.
I was surprised to learn that Louisville native W. Kent Taylor opened the very first Texas Roadhouse in Clarksville, just across the river from Louisville. Taylor, who was a manager for KFC at the time, tried to secure funding for his restaurant but was turned down again and again. After multiple attempts, he finally got the backing he needed from three doctors in Elizabethtown.
A Dream That Started on a Napkin
What started as a sketch on a napkin became reality when Kent Taylor opened the first Texas Roadhouse in Clarksville in 1993, in the Green Tree Mall…